


Loneliness Boils Over

by MaeveBran



Category: Forever (TV)
Genre: Father and Son
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-12
Updated: 2015-02-12
Packaged: 2018-03-12 00:59:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3338228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaeveBran/pseuds/MaeveBran
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the events of 115 "The King of Columbus Circle", Henry reflects on his loneliness. More Father and son comfort.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Loneliness Boils Over

Dr. Henry Morgan tucked a quilt around his sleeping son. Abraham might be seventy but to Henry he would always be that infant he first saw on the remains of a battlefield. He was glad his son had found his original family and was making the connections Henry had been unable to provide, but the excitement had exhausted him.

Henry looked at his son one more time and climbed the stairs to the bedrooms. He preformed his evening rituals and got ready for bed. Once in his room for the night, Henry turned out the light and climbed into bed, on the side close to the door. As usual, he left the other side unoccupied. Thirty some years since she had left and Henry still left her side of the bed alone for Abigail. He could have sprawled in the middle but he never did.

In the faint moonlight, he looked at the picture of her on his nightstand. He missed her. Tonight more than usual, the case had reminded him of her and the best times they had had. The trip on the Orient Express had rekindled the flames of their love, that had barely dimmed, to new heights. Most nights he was able to, by sheer dint of will, say goodnight to the photograph but tonight the memories were to close to the surface. He felt the tears of loneliness slide down his face, so he grabbed the spare pillow and clutched it to him. He laid down curled around the pillow and let the tears flow. It had been years since he had cried over his loss.

Abe woke an hour after Henry had tucked him in on the couch. He got up and folded the quilt and put it away. Sure, he could have slept on the couch all night but he had a more comfortable bed waiting for him upstairs.

Abe climbed the stairs and walked past his father's room. He paused at the door, about to look in and say good night, when he heard the sound of his father weeping. It had been a long time since he heard that sound.

Abe eased the door open and entered the room. There a sight, he had never expected to see greeted him. Sometimes Abe forgot that his father was as human as any mere mortal. Henry had always seemed super human to his son, more so since he had found out about his father's condition.

“Dad,” Abe said softly as he reached a hand for Henry.

“Abe,” Henry said as he sat up and wiped the tears from his face.

“You know,” Abe said as he sat in the empty space on the bed next to Henry. “No matter what I learn about the Wienraubs, I will always be a Morgan. I've proud born that name for seventy years and I plan to carry it for a long time.”

Henry smiled weekly. He had never been more proud of his son. 

“It's not about that,” Henry said. “It was this case.”

“Want to tell me about it,” Abe invited.

“It was the exiled King of Urkesh,” Henry said. “I knew him.”

“When did you meet Kings?” Abe asked.

“That month, your Mother and I, to quote you 'left you on that crappy old farm in England'.” Henry said.

“On the Orient Express?” Abe said, incredulous.

“Yes,” Henry said. “The old King was taking his son to safety before returning to the revolution. The Prince came down with appendicitis and the guard came for me, as I was a doctor. Your Mother and I had to preform emergency surgery aboard the moving train.”

“You never told me that story,” Abe said.

“I've lived a lot longer than you,” Henry reminded his son. “I have lots of stories that haven't been told.”

“Is that how you got the King's ring?” Abe asked. 

“After the surgery, the King had us join him for dinner,” Henry smiled at the memory. “After dinner, in our compartment, Abigail lay on the bed and fell asleep as I talked with his Majesty. He apologized for boring my bride to sleep on our wedding night. I told him we had married a decade before but were only taking our honeymoon now. His Majesty asked if it was because of a child and I told him about you. He took a ring off of his finger and said that it had been handed down from Father to son since the first of his line but I was to give it to you.”

Abraham looked at his father, with his mouth agape. “You never told me how you came to have that ring before. I would have never had it in the shop if I had known.”

“You were ten,” Henry said. “And upset that Abigail and I had left you with her parents. You never wanted to hear the stories of our trip so I left off the more detailed explanations.”

“I'm sorry,” Abe said. He remembered being ten and bewildered that the parents who loved him had wanted to leave him behind for a month. He had loved his grandparents and enjoyed being with them but had missed his parents. Now that he was older, he understood. Henry and Abigail had never had a chance to just be a couple without a child and they had wanted a trip to themselves.

Henry nodded his acknowledgment of the apology. 

“So the case...,” Abe started.

“Reminded me of your mother, more than usual,” Henry said. “And the time we had decided to try for siblings for you. But that never happened.”

Abe sat stunned at that revelation. He had wondered if Henry's condition had made it impossible for him to have children or if he had just chosen not to. Abe didn't know what to say so he wrapped an arm around his father and sat like that.

Henry leaned into his son's arm. It wasn't often that he was being the one comforted and Henry missed that as much as he missed his wife. People didn't touch him except in brief, fleeting contact. It made the loneliness even more palpable. He didn't like to burden Abraham with his problems and he had no other confidants so Henry bottled the loneliness and pain up until he could no longer contain it. It had boiled out tonight and left Henry so drained that he fell asleep in his son's arms, not noticing when Abe shifted them both to be more comfortable and fell asleep holding him.


End file.
